'It could also be because of a nuclear explosion, though.'

Okay, this is essentially about discussing your own embarassing parties or whatever, but can I please tell you about this one? It's a long description, so just post your own stories if you don't want to read the whole thing.

I'd invited a few people over, including my girlfriend and two people who have been helping me do some research for my book (they're also fanatics, and I do know the meaning of that word - but usually I can trust them, so I still invited them). My girlfriend is more of a historian, but one of the fanatics is an expert on the modern Gaidhealtachd politically, economically, and militarily. That's sort of the reason he's a fanatic, and although I expected there'd be some interesting discussions, I didn't think they'd begin talking about Coinneach Odhar.

He is the most famous of the Highland seers, and there are quite a few of them. That's probably because the meanings of his prophecies are obvious; there aren't many descriptions that people wouldn't understand, and so it is easier to tell whether they have been fulfilled or not. That's one of the reasons for most of his prophecies being fulfilled, from things such as stones falling over to the Highland Clearances, and anyone I've met who knows of him also believes that his prophecies will be fulfilled.

There are many about the Highland Clearances, and they've been fulfilled, as the Highland Clearances happened. That's pretty obvious. But another prophecy talks about the reclamation of the Highlands by saying that: 'the people will emigrate to Islands now unknown, but which shall yet be discovered in the boundless oceans, after which the deer and other wild animals in the huge wilderness shall be exterminated and drowned by horrid black rains. The people will then return and take undisturbed possession of the lands of their ancestors.'

Well, okay, so the first two things have happened, but what happens after that has caused a lot of debate, and that debate was apparently something that one of the fanatics had considered his opinion about. There was a brief discussion on what it meant, and after my girlfriend's suggestion that Coinneach Odhar was talking about pollution, and in front of everyone, including my girlfriend, me, and everyone else I'd invited, a few of them from Caithness, one even from Thurso, he said: 'it could also be because of a nuclear explosion, though. The nuclear power plant at Dounreay, near Thurso - think about the amount of effort that goes into maintaining it. Not much, and the place is old.' Then he said that: 'at least the expatriates will have even more of a wilderness to come back to. How's that ruined village you bought, anyway, are you going to do any more work on it?'

'it could also be because of a nuclear explosion, though. The nuclear power plant at Dounreay, near Thurso - think about the amount of effort that goes into maintaining it. Not much, and the place is old.'

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Haha, the problem with his interpretation is that nuclear power plants can't explode like, per say, a nuclear bomb. They are powered by fission, which would cause it to melt down, yes, but not explode.

Any who, what party isn't embarrassing for someone? Getting a group of people together, often with alcohol, is a recipe for sure disaster.

I'll give you an example of my complete and utter social ineptitude... (By the way, there was no alcohol involved, I'm just naturally a bit )

I was recently invited to a new friend's birthday celebrations - this was essentially our second date and I was meeting his friends for the first time. Topics up for discussion included things like the concept of possession if you were not able to communicate the idea of ownership to other people, and at one point - after the statement 'nothing makes sense' was made, my friend attempted quite unsuccessfully to explain how and why the statement negates itself.

I understood with perfect clarity exactly what he meant, and I was actually forming a good response in my mind to aid in his explanation. But what was my actual contribution to the entire conversation?